By Dick Burnett.

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Read artist commentary.

Tracks that reference Farewell Song:

From Additional Tracks:

• I'm A Man Of Constant Sorrow by The Stanley Brothers

Lyrics:

I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all of my days
I'll bid farewell to old Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised

Oh, six long year I've been blind, friends
My pleasures here on earth are done
In this world I have to ramble

So fare you well my own true lover
I fear I'll never see you again
For I am bound to ride the Northern railroad
Perhaps I'll die upon the train

Oh, you may bury me in some deep valley
For many year there I may lay
Oh, when you're dreaming while you're slumbering
While I am sleeping in the clay

Oh, fare you well to my native country
The place where I have loved so well
For I have all kinds of trouble
In this vain world no tongue can tell

Dear friends, although I may be a stranger
My face you may never see no more
But there is a promise that is given
Where we can meet on that beautiful shore

Artist commentary:

Niklink: (wiki editor)

"Farewell Song" was first published in a self-made songbook "Songs Song by R.D. BURNETT. The blind man. Monticello - - - Kentucky." in 1913. Those original lyrics are printed here verbatim, with the exception of adjustments to punctuation. However, later in life Dick Burnett himself was unsure of whether he composed the song entirely by himself or drew upon other works. Research has found tentative roots in hymns and folk songs from Kentucky and Virginia throughout the 19th century; as a traveling street performer Dick knew a vast amount of such works.

While the song was first recorded in 1927 by Dick, Columbia Records did not release the recording, making Emry Arthur's 1928 recording the earliest. It is this version that is linked here, and this version that first adopted the name "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" which the song is now commonly known as.